«Santa Rosalia, help us». Only a miracle will save Palermo. «Tourism is the new plague» denounces the evocative banner, during the celebrations of the local patron saint. The activists therefore have no choice but to plead with Santuzza, who already worked to resolve the epidemic of 1624. Even in Naples, after the thawing of the blood, another miracle of San Gennaro is needed. Exhausted citizens, during the celebrations of last September 19th, implored: “Squash all the B&Bs”. On the banners set up for the procession, the writing stands out: “Nun c’a facimm’ cchiù”. Overcrowding, dubbed “overtourism”, makes existence unbearable for the locals. The precursors of inhospitality were the Spaniards: from the Balearic Islands to Barcelona, protests against the outcast holidaymakers. They wave placards, shout slogans, spray water on the unfortunate people. The nightmare is now also materializing in Italy, accompanied by the cacophonous neologism that praises the revolt: tourism. From the Nebrodi to the Dolomites, the demoniacs command: stay at home.
“You don’t rent to southerners.” The cartel appeared in the 1960s in Milan and Turin. Not rented to travellers, they now suggest, recovering dormant discrimination. Raus. Shoo. Go. Collectives, activists, social centers have finally identified those responsible for degradation and impoverishment. The protesters are the same ones who take to the streets to defend migrants, landings and NGOs. Therefore, dangerous illegal immigrants are better than welcome visitors. Do you perhaps bring drug dealing and crime? Welcome. In Italy “no one is a foreigner”, states a bill advocated in parliament by the opposition. You certainly bring wealth and work? You are not welcome. After all, it was in the tainted air. Eco-Talibanism is starting to struggle. The uncontainable euphoria for green fluff has already transformed into sad awareness.
The confusion did not last long. The left has new enemies: the peaceful American in shorts, with a multivitamin wife in tow. They are the unconfessed criminals. Degradation, crimes, pollution. It’s their fault. Such a bold contortion could only be taken up by the valiant mayors of Piddini. Their cities stand out in the latest crime rankings. Instead they all seem to be exegetes of his Milanese colleague, Giuseppe Sala, who classified the security emergency as a “problem of perception”. Only in the face of overwhelming numbers do they come to concede: it’s the government’s fault for not sending enough agents. Even though the soldiers of Operation “Safe Roads” have increased from five to six thousand. To which must be added the 600 in service in railway stations.
It doesn’t matter. Only returning the cities to their natives will save us. The red fury is symbolized by the growing aversion towards short-term rentals. In Naples, in addition to invoking San Gennaro, two weeks ago the Set collective staged a choreographic mobilization against Mephistophelian mass tourism, which would damage the economy. Signature collection follows: immediate stop to the opening of new B&Bs in the centre. Moreover, the activists find a strong support in Gaetano Manfredi, mayor of Naples: «I will push to reach a national law so that the activity of B&Bs can be regulated» he promises. «There is a congestion problem. Tourism is a resource that cannot be done without, but we must take into account the suffering of residents.”
Nobody wants to underestimate the atavistic housing emergency, for goodness sake. But can the solution really be to block short-term rentals, in the hope that holidaymakers will go elsewhere and with the certainty of damaging the local economy? In Florence they have no doubts. The mayor, Sara Funaro, carries forward the proposal of her illustrious predecessor, Dario Nardella. Prohibit the creation of new B&Bs in the historic center. Last July, did the TAR of Tuscany declare the resolution lapsed? Funaro reiterates. «The city must not lose its identity and must be liveable for Florentines» he clarifies. Of course, the first not to set a very good example, as revealed by Panoramathey are the mayor’s very close relatives. At Palazzo Bargellini, the splendid family home, there is an uncle who rents out briefly to travellers. While the mayor’s parents, despite having the license to do so, limit themselves to more permanent leases.
The Medici city, meanwhile, climbs the ranking of the Italian Gothams. Street robberies, for example, grew by 56 percent compared to 2022. An absolute record. The emergency, for the Dem junta, however, remains the idle foreigners. In fact, while Funaro reinstates the restriction on short-term rentals, writings against the invaders are popping up in the centre. They don’t deal in Santa Maria Novella or steal in San Jacopino. They hang out in the center to admire churches and palaces. It is the American criminals, with their fat wallets, who make existence unlivable. Road signs, walls, baskets, racks and poles are adorned with yellow writings and stickers: “Yankee go home”. At home. Under Palazzo Vecchio appears the even more pyrotechnic: “Fuck USA”. And then, the always evocative warning: «Florence cannot be sold». Better than an electoral slogan. The wide field take note. Away with the Americans, anyway. Instead, they persist in wanting to visit the city, where those delinquent children also study. Forty American universities even have a branch in Florence, with 18 thousand students enrolled every year.
They are also protesting in Rome: a collection of signatures is being organized to ask for a limit on short-term rentals, while the council is considering paying entry to the Trevi Fountain. In Venice the ticket already exists: it costs five euros. Giovanni Andrea Martini, center-left municipal councilor, nevertheless proposes to close ranks. We must emulate the protests in Barcelona, where protesters against overtourism “shot” foreigners using water pistols. Matteo Lepore, Democratic mayor in Bologna, is content with verbal assaults instead. The solution, even for him, is to limit short-term rentals. «Tourism is a bubble that must be managed with national policies that have been missing for some time» he attacks. It’s the government’s fault for “smoothing the lobbies”. Yes, the infamous very strong powers of B&B. And so, even in the historic capital of dem power, the comrades protest lively. The university collective Luna blocks a tourist bus in Piazza Maggiore “to denounce tourism and the contradictions of Bologna’s development”.
Another standard bearer is the mayor of Verona: Damiano Tommasi, already a football champion. The phenomenon of the so-called “high housing tension” must be regulated, explains with Lepore. Even the city of Romeo and Juliet is less loving towards travellers. Last August the center was plastered with inhospitable stickers: «Tourist go home. Stop Airbnb.” The addition of «Semo alle asse», i.e. to fruit, denotes the clear Venetian origin. Messages are left on dozens of doorbells and doors of short-term rental accommodation. In short, even here, it seems that the cause of all evil are the bold visitors. Yet, even Verona figures well in the crime rankings: twenty-second place, with a lively and continuous rise. The Veronese security councilor, Stefania Zivelonghi, however, enunciates Piddina’s unbreakable theory: «Where there are many tourists, petty crime is high and security is low». It is the visitors, with their big watches in plain sight, who encourage the criminals. Not to mention the age-old problem of muggings among holidaymakers. Of course: the theorem falters, for example, in Turin, among the least safe cities in Italy. And certainly not affected by the lethal disease. The Democratic mayor, Stefano Lo Russo, however prefers to move forward: “We must implement preventive actions.”
«Tourism kills the city» they also write in Palermo, on the breakwaters of the Foro Italico. But even the walls of the most visited neighborhoods are soiled by a purple writing: “Tourist go home” (similar to the one that defaced a stone, complete with a fossil imprint, in the Dolomites). Then put yourself in the shoes of the dismayed people in shorts wandering around the Sicilian capital. They wanted to smell the smells of Ballarò, get lost in the cathedral, taste some cannoli. Instead, they are unwelcome payers, a disgrace of the historic hospitality in the southern region. The new plague victims. Saint Rosalia, help us. Only yet another miracle will be able to eradicate “the plague that shames Palermo”. For Johnny Stecchino’s uncle, in the famous film, it was “traffic”. Now it’s the tourists.
